Sun Mote Copse Legacy rule.

"You might have to face that decision as a Sovereign next year."

"What do you mean, I might be Sovereign next year?"

"That's the natural succession of all things, I guess?"

"How do you figure? Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"I am neither leaving today, nor am I planning to die tomorrow. Not for a while anyway. But at some point in the future I might be willing to give up the leadership entirely."

"Fair enough. If you do decide to step down, just know I'm here to step up."

Towhee couldn't help but recall this conversation as she slowly wound her way around the copse's perimeter. She sighed. @Wraen had survived the hornets' onslaught but she was still in bad shape. Even if she made it out of the woods, there was a long load of recovery ahead of her. Neither one of them could've anticipated these circumstances but the Regent knew what she must do. She would make good on her word by stepping up and taking charge in the Sovereign's stead while she recuperated.

She was in no hurry to make an official announcement. Sighing again, Towhee finished her circuit, turned and began walking through the copse. She walked slowly, due largely to her own aches and pains following the encounter with the swarm. But there was also a lot on her mind, naturally. Right now in particular, she needed a few moments to grieve for a good friend's suffering.

Vague assumptions made per Me's note in Disco. Quoted conversation is from here and here.

As an overprotective momasaurus, Niamh worried for her packmates who had been present at the time the bees- or hornets, whatever they were- had attacked her friends. Wraen seemed to have been attacked the worst, but she wasn't the only one who'd been in the area at the time. While she didn't understand exactly why it was that Wraen was so sick now, she did know that it made her angry to think that those stupid, tiny, angry insects could do such a thing to her friend. And it wsn't like she could just track them down and make them pay for hurting her friends; she had nowhere to direct her anger and thus, had been in a somewhat miserly mood since the incident. 

She'd caught a pheasant, and was carrying it with herwhen she caught sight of Towhee limping in the distance, and she assumed then that her friend was maybe heading toward the Rendez-vous site for a break. With Wraen as ill and injured as she was, Towhee was the next choice to step in for the interim- but she wasn't completely able, either. She picked up a trot and intercepted her friend's path, reaching out to nudge Towhee's cheek with the partridge as an offering.

She paused in a slanting sunbeam, watching the dust motes dance as she became lost in thought. When something soft touched her cheek, Towhee flinched away, though she recovered quickly when she saw it was Niamh with food in tow. The Regent Sovereign didn't feel particularly hungry, though she smiled faintly in thanks as she turned to fully face her friend.

-"Shit's fucked up, huh?"- She shook her head. -"I never knew bugs could do that to someone. Did you?"- The stings themselves were no picnic, as she knew from experience; even now, her body twinged in more than a dozen places. But she hadn't lost consciousness or struggled to breathe. She wasn't lying somewhere, with one foot in the grave and a bleak outlook even if she did survive.

Her face fell back into a frown. Things had gone so well for so long that Towhee might've almost called life boring lately. But she never wanted something like this to happen, despite the whims of her player, and her chest tightened whenever she thought of finding Wraen on the ground, practically lifeless.

Niamh dropped the bird, frowning at her friend's polite dismissal. It didn't feel like there was much she could do to help, and her eyes wandered over her friend's pelt where she could see the visible lumps and bumps from where she'd been stung. The most painful looking ones were the places on her face which were swollen, giving her muzzle odd lumps and angles that reminded Niamh of the texture of an old log. She hated that this had happened to her friend, and that she couldn't get revenge or do anything to make her skin look or feel any better. 

-Looks worse'n porcupine- She commented with a frown. Porcupine quills hurt, and left marks when they were pulled out- but there was no toxicity to porcupine quills. When Towhee asked Niamh about her experience with insects, she recalled the day that one of the twins had been stung- how her leg had swollen up, and how she'd been naught more than a babe, screaming and mewling after having rolled over on a bee. Niamh nodded. -One of the twins got stung as a baby. Only by one bee, but it was horrible.- She said. Phox had been the one to remain calm and identify the cause of Alyx's (or had it been Quetzal?) pain, and while it hadn't taken long for her to heal, Niamh had been thoroughly rattled by the experience. Things like snakes, venomous spiders and bees or hornets...They were a nearly invincible, invisible foe.

Niamh mentioned porcupines and Towhee's frown deepened. She suddenly thought of all the other dangerous creatures out there. One of the twins had already been stung (her heart lurched unpleasantly), what if it happened to someone else? What if one of the pups had a reaction like Wraen's? Towhee shook her head as if trying to physically rid herself of the thought. It didn't really bear thinking about, did it?

-"She's barely alive. It's..."- Well, Towhee wasn't really sure what she wanted to say. She swallowed thickly, orange gaze falling to the proffered bird. -"Do you mind if we take this to the rendezvous site and share it with the kiddos? Although,"- she said in the next breath, hesitating. -"I wouldn't mind hanging out and talking with you a bit, if that's okay. We're down a witch but we're still a coven."- Towhee smiled sadly. -"I want to catch up while we have the chance. How've you been?"-

Of course, they saw one another every day, yet they were always distracted by their duties to their family and the pack. Towhee's gaze lingered softly on Niamh's, plumbing the depths of her sister-in-law's eyes, wanting to know how she was holding up lately, Wraen's incident aside.

Niamh's gaze sharpened when Towhee trailed off. She didn't like to think about losing Wraen, and she tightened her lips a bit as though threatening to shove the notion aside should Towhee voice her concern out loud. She shifted the topic, and Niamh took this as a bid, on her friend's behalf, to have a bit of a one-on-one conversation so she gladly accepted. Things were precarious, with their Sovereign on death's doorstep, without much of a means to treat her reaction to the stings. She was content to stay a while, and discuss matters with Towhee, and nodded. -The kids can go hungry for a bit- She teased with as much of a wry smile as she could offer- though it faded quickly. 

Towhee's question came as a bit of a surprise, and tapped into a nerve that Niamh had only begun to become aware of; she hadn't realized, really, how distant she'd been since the second batch of kids were born, and how little energy or time she had for foolishness and games. Even the children's antics- while they were cute- they tried every bit of her patience. Were it not for the support of Towhee, Phox and Bronco, she supposed she felt there might've been a chance she could have simply walked away from them. She loved them, but...Everything about being a mother had simply been so much harder this time around. 

-I don't know.- She said softly, a somewhat distant look on her features. -I know it's ridiculous, but I don't think I ever recovered my energy after having these three. They feel sometimes like they're not even mine.- She admitted. She'd forced herself through the dissociation, of course, and the dismay of knowing that the children wouldn't have thrived had it not been for the strong support system they had. She felt jealous every time she saw her children bond more with Bronco than they had with her- without realizing that that was necessarily how they felt. -They're nothing like me,- She said with a shrug, but finally, a soft smile appeared though it faltered with her shadowed gaze. -Probably not a bad thing.-

The blonde's blunt answer caught her off guard and Towhee felt bad for being totally oblivious. Her brow furrowed, all thoughts of poor Wraen momentarily fleeing her mind as a thousand questions suddenly cropped up in there. Why was Niamh feeling this way? Did Phox know how she felt? Was there anything Towhee could do?

Well, she could start by offering support and sympathy. -"Niamh, I didn't realize,"- she began apologetically. -"I never really thought about who they took after,"- she also admitted, pondering it now. -"They're really their own individuals, aren't they? That's what keeps it interesting, I guess. But,"- she continued quickly, -"I don't mean to, like, invalidate your feelings or anything."-

She fell quiet for a beat, contemplative. Towhee couldn't help but think about the beginning of Niamh's and Phox's romance. It hadn't been sunshine and rainbows, that was for sure. And she couldn't quite peg the timeline, though she wondered if Niamh had gone into heat and that's what had really turned the tables. If that was the case, it wouldn't surprise her if Niamh wasn't really happy. Maybe she resented Phox and the children borne of their union. That thought made Towhee swallow thickly.

-"Is everything okay with Phox?"- she ventured. She never liked trying to mediate their relationship and really didn't aspire to do that now. But Towhee couldn't help but wonder. And she wanted Niamh (and Phox too) to be happy, whatever that looked like.

She was startled by how concerned Towhee became, suddenly, though she ought to have figured she'd draw concern. Towhee was her Person, after all, and she hadn't exactly answered any difficult questions about her feelings- or lack thereof- for quite some time. She'd been coasting by on auto-pilot, it seemed, and had been putting on whatever fce she'd needed to put on in order to get things done. But she hadn't been putting any extra effort into anything; while she had been capable about her patrolling, hunting and parenting, she hadn't been exceptional. 

-No, it's OK, really- She said, immediately regretting, at least a bit, saying so much to Towhee. She wasn't in the depths of despair after all- simply...-I just feel kinda numb. The kids're fine, an' they're gonna grow up to be fine. I think things are fine with Phox, but it's- She said, and she inhaled. -It's like every day is the exact same. And when it's not, it's- she said, and gestured to the bumps on Towhee's flesh, with a frown. -Doesn't it...Feel that way to you?- She asked. Life had been different when they'd been younger...They'd had more fun, more adventure. Perhaps she just hadn't been ready for adult life to hit her so hard.

A loud breath gusted out of her, not that Towhee was really aware how it sounded. She felt relief pinching in her chest and realized she'd gotten a little ahead of herself there. Thank goodness, it seemed nothing was particularly amiss in their relationship. But then, what was wrong?

Well, Niamh did her best to explain what might be at the bottom of it. Towhee's lips pursed as her friend gestured at her, meeting the motion with a slight nod. Yes, she understood. She felt another jolt of guilt when she thought how boringly pleasant things had been up until yesterday.

-"I think I know what you mean. Being a parent is wonderful and also fucking tedious as hell. I love Meerkat—and talk about kids not taking after their mothers, huh—and the chibs but, yes, lately it's like I do a lot of things by rote."- She let out another long breath, a little less loudly this time.

-"I think Wraen had the right idea, when she stole us away. Maybe we should do that more often? Especially now, ah, y'know, in her honor. And hopefully she'll get to rejoin us someday."- She tried on a smile but it was a little more of a grimace as she sought Niamh's gaze to see what she thought of that whole sentiment.

Contrary to Towhee's expressed woes about her child not bearing much of a resemblance to her, it was a relief for Niamh that Meerkat had grown up as a fairly easy-to-handle child, as Niamh felt her three took up more than enough time, space and energy within her life. More and more she found herself wondering how Finley did it- how she and the rest of the Blackthorns put up with having so many litters of children- and finding herself disappointed in receiving no answer. She could've used a Finley pick-me-up chat right about now. Niamh and Towhee both probably could have used a good reality check from their deceased friend...She'd been the best at making them all see past their own woes to how things actually were. 

So she did what she could to channel her inner Finley, and support Towhee without coddling her. She wanted to say that she missed how things had been when they'd been reckless yearlings- running around, picking fights, charging wolves on the border without asking questions...Things had been simpler then, though they hadn't been easy by any means. Still- there'd been more of a fire in her belly, and a spark in her eyes in those days. What had changed, and could they even try to change it back? Towhee wanted more of the little outings that Wraen had planned, but in truth...Niamh'd found the entire getaway to be a bit boring. 

Her eyes narrowed when Towhee hinted something about Wraen rejoining them someday. Of course she would- Niamh had a feeling that despite her horrible condition, that Wraen would pull through. Having seen Alyx react the way she had to one bee sting, she couldn't imagine what Wraen was going through. Towhee herself looked thoroughly hangdog after having been stung a few times as well. She nudged her friend's cheek. "-All part of becoming a 'grown-up' I guess,-" She huffed, with a somewhat faded smile. She'd always thought that life would stay just as vibrant and exciting as it had been when she'd been even just a year or two younger...But things were changing, now, and she couldn't just be herself for the sake of being herself. She had a mate and children to think of, now, and responsibilities that tired her out. 

She tried to put a bit more effort into her response regarding Wraen, though. -She'll recover fine. She'll prolly outlive both you an' I, anyway, an' tell stories about us to our grandchildren about their --hag-- grandmothers-" She smirked.

Niamh offered a positive outlook, which she appreciated. Her friend's quip actually reminded her of the time she'd realized she'd have grandchildren someday. She'd come into such joy at that revelation. Then Meerkat had come along, which was even more wonderful and just meant more grandchildren. Despite the harrowing past few days, she found herself genuinely smiling.

-"Okay,"- she announced after a beat of companionable silence, -"let's get this snack back to the kiddos. The more we feed them, the faster they'll grow up and become less reliant on us."- She huffed a laugh, orange eyes combing searchingly over Niamh's face. She pressed her nose to the other woman's cheek before bending to gather the dead bird to carry it back.

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